Trolley



Dec'. 1 1925.

L. F.' BURNHAM T R O LLE Y Filed Jan, l5. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNvENroR L @/a/yd/BUr/ vbam ATTORNEY WITNESSES: E@ www )fa/,zzn v Patented Dec. 1, 1925'.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LELAND F. BURNHAM, F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO R. D. NUTTALL COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

TROLLEY.

.Application filed January 13, 1922. Serial No. 529,046.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, LELAND F. BURNHAM, a citizen of the United States, and a residentl of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Trolleys, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to current collectors and particularly to means for mounting` a plurality of contact devices upon a single supporting member.

My invention is designed especially for employment in connection with trolley busses or trackless trolley vehicles wherein contact members or current collectors :are mounted for engagement with a pair of trolley wires. then such collectors :are mounted upon a single pole, provision must be made to permit the vehicle to deviate from its normal path of movement, while, at the same time, insuringthat the current collectors remain in engagement with their respective trolley wires.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved and simplified form of multiple-contact structure whereby engagement between the contact members and the trolley wires may be effectively maintained,l not withstanding deviations in the path traveled by the vehicle upon which the contact members are mounted, and toV provide means whereby the electrical circuit through the vehicle will not be interrupted, even though the direction of travel of the vehicle be reversed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a view, partially in front elevation and partially in section, of a current collector and supporting means therefor, which I employ;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof,

Figs. 3 and 4 are plan and side elevational views, respectively, of the swivel member which I employ,

Figs. 5 and 6 are plan and side elevational views, respectively, of one of the supporting arms.

Figs. 7 and 8 are plan and side elevational views, respectively, of the supporting arm for the other current collector; and

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing the form of knuckle which I employ for each of the two current collectors.

A trolley pole 10, onlyl a portion of which is shown, is mounted upon a swivel base on the roof of a vehicle (not shown) and is normally biased upwardly to maintain the current collectors in engagement with a pair of trolley wires, in the usual manner.

The pole 10 carries, at its upper end, a polehead 11 that is provided with a perforated extension 12 through which the shank 13 of a swivel member 14 extends. The swivel member 14 is maintained in place by means of a nut 15 and aspring 15a located between the nut and the underside of the extension 12. The spring serves to maintain close-fitting engagement between the swivel member and the pole head 11 and to compensate for wear which occurs between the frictional surfaces of the swivel member 14 and the extension 12 of the pole head 11.

The swivel member 14 is provided with a pair of upstanding arms 16 that are perforated for the reception of a bolt or shaft 1.7 that extends therethrough.

An arm 19, that is shown more clearly in Figs. 5 and 6, is provided with square vshank portions 20 that t between the upstanding portions 16 of the swivel member 14 and are provided with a hole 21 through which the bolt 17 extends to maintain the arm 19 in position for pivotal movement about the bolt 17 as an axis. Bushings 20a, of insulating material, surroundthe shank portions 2() of the arm 19.

The arm 19 lis provided with a hole 24,

that extends vertically therethrough, for the reception of a pin 25 that serves to support. a knuckle member 26 forpivotal movement about a pin 25 as an axis. The knuckle 26 is tapped, at its outer end, (Fig. 9) for the reception of the threaded end of a shaft member 28 that serves to support a trolley wheel 29 which co-operates with a trolley wire 30.

At the other side of the pivot 17, I provide an arm 31. This arm is provided with eX- tensions 32 and 33 (Figs. 7 and 8) that are recessed intermediate their ends to conform to the contour of two sides of the bushings 20a that surround the arm 19.

A pair of cover plates 35 are provided with recessed portions corresponding to those ofthe extensions 32 and 33 of the arm 31. By clamping the cover plates 35 to extensions32 and 33, in the manner shown in Fig. 1, by .means of a series of bolts 37, the arms 19 and 31 are maintained in rigid relation to each other and, consequently, are

pivot-ally movable, as a unit, about the pin 17. The bushings 20a. insulate the arm'3l from the arm 19 and the shaft 17.

The arm 31 is pi-ovided with perforations through which a pin extends, 'for pivotally support-ing a knuckle member llt), iu the same manner as the knuckle 26 is supported by the pin Q ont' the arm 19. The arm l0 is tapped for the reception ot a shaft i1 tiat supports a trolley wheel 42 which. cooperates with a trolflgey Wire 43..

A. spring` conducting member #ist is provided betiveen each or' the trolley Wheels 99 and 412 and its respective knuckle tor more readily conducting the current.

The arms 19. and 8.1` are each provided with a leal; spring 46 of the U shape that is secured in place in the arms. by means ot screws 117. The springs 416 are provided with extensions that lie along the vertical sides ot the knuckles 26 and ligt), respectively, and i-iormally serve to yieldingly maintain the knuckles in paralleli-.sm with their sup porting; arms.

The knuckles 26 andI ll() and the arms 19 and 31 are each provided with holes into which pins, 4,5 may be placed., as shown more clearly in Figi Q in orde-r to prevent the kunckles 26 and Ll() 'from moving about the pivots 29 and 30, respectively., under certain. conditions ol! operation.

Current :trom the troll-ey wheel 29 may tloiv through the conducting member Lift, knuckle 26, arm 19, swivel 16,: polie head 1.1 and the pole 10.. rEhe arm 3,1, being insulated by the bushings e, the return circuit will be through a flexible connector 49 that leads to the vehicle,A plates or brush 11i-embers 52 and 53, conductor 50, the shalt 4,1, conductinzg member 44 and the trolley- Wheel 42'.

A pair of plates 51 of. micarta, or other insulating material` are mounted upon the extension 12 ol' the pol-e head 11 concentrically of the shank 13 of the swivel 16, and a metal plate 5,2 is secured to the upper ,side ot the diskdike members 5l. Another metal plate 53 is seci-ued to the under side of a pair olIA iusulatin-p,t disks that are also` ngiounted conccntrically olf the shank 13j, and this up,- per group ol? plates 53 and 541 turn with the swivel, 16 about its yaxis 123.

From the forego-ing, it willl be seen that the current collectors 29 and 42 may have rotative movement, in avertical plane, about the shaft 1T as an axis. A projection 515 is secured. to the underside ot each ol the knuckles @Gand ILO :tor engagement with a plat-e ot insulating; material, that secured to an extension ojlj' the swivel niember 11 to limit4 the rocking movement of the current collectors 29 and 42' labout the axis 1i. It desired, the Wheels 29 and Llf2l may be insulated from eac-h other by making the knuckle 4t() or the al1-n1 21 of insulating; matcrial.

lt Will also be apparent that the collectors 29 and 42 are independently rotatable in a horizontal plane about the pins Q5 and 39, respectively, as axes, or that the collectors may be maintained in rigid alinement transversely of the trolley pole, by means ot the locking pins 45.

During the operation ot the vehicle, should one of the Wires or 43 occupy a higher horizontal plane than the other ot said Wires, the upward tension exerted upon the pole will cause the current collectors' 29 and@ tol move about the pivot 17', thus insuring that the current cellectors Will at all times be maintained in operative en gagement with their respective Wires, regardless of the differences, of the height ot saidv wires.y

It will be further observed that, should the vehicle be forced to detour from its normal path of travel beneath the trolley Wires, the support upon the pole head may tend to turn diagonally ot the trolley Wires and thereby cause the Wires to bind themselves between the flanges of the wheels 29 and 42 or to be moved out of the space between the lianges, The pins 25 and 39, however, permit the Wheels 29 and l2 to swivel about such vertical pivots suliiciently to accommodate themselves to the misalinen'ient between the pole-head structure and the trolley wires7 and, consequently, to maintain proper en gagement with the trolley wiresr Thebrush members 52 and 53 permit an uninterrupted flow of current through the conductors 19 and 50,4 throughouta complete turning movement` of the vehicle.

Various modii'ications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention,l as defined in the accompanyina claimsllVhat` I claim as my invention is.:

1. The combination with a trolley pole, ot a. pair oi' current collectors supported thereby in transversely spaced relation and each mounted for independent movement about a vertical axis, andl means 'for providil1p pivotal movement oisai d collectors ou their common transverse axis.

2. The combination with a trolley pole, of a pair of current collectors supported thereby.,r and mounted for independent rotative movement about vertical axesr, and means for yieldingl-y maintaining the current collee-y tors in alinement transversely of the trolley pole.

3. The combination with a trolley 301e, ol a pair of current collectors supportec there-` by, in laterally spaced relation, means Ifor permitting relative movementl of the current collectors in a horizontal plane, and means for normally maintaining the current collectors in lateral alinement.A

4,-. The. combination with a trolley Anele, a swivel member carried thereby, a pair current collectors supported by the swivel member, one of the collectors having elec trical connection therewith and the other of the collectors being,` insulated therefrom, a conductor supported by the pole, and :t brush connection between the other insulated current collector und the said conductor.

5. The combination with a trolley pole, of a pair of current collectors supported thereby, one of the collectors being insulated from the pole and the other collector having electrical connection therewith.

G. The combination with a trolley pole. of

a pair of current collectors Supported thereby for pivotal movement, one of the col1eotors having electrical connection with the trolley pole and the other collector being n- Sulated therefrom, a conducting member Supported by the pole and means whereby the current collectors may rotate about the said pivot, Without interrupting the flouv of current through said collectors.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 6th dey of January 1922.

LELAND F. BURNHAM. 

